> You know, the use of a select in param definitions has always 
> confused me.  Could someone explain them, maybe a simple 
> example?  

It's just a default value for use when the caller doesn't supply one.

> Also, the select for the param, does it have an 
> effect on the data passed into it (if it is a node litst)?

No, if the caller supplies a value for the param then the select attribute
is ignored.

> I have frequently used "../" or is it "/.." to guarantee that 
> the param should be interpreted as a node-list.

It doesn't give any such guarantee. The fact that the default value is of
one particular type doesn't stop the caller supplying a value of a different
type. In XSLT 2.0, declare the expected type using an "as" attribute.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/